Commercialization of African indigenous vegetables: evidence from Mashonaland East province, Zimbabwe

The study was carried out in Murehwa, Mutoko, and Goromonzi district in Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe guided by the objective of analyzing factors that determine commercialization of African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) by smallholder farmers with different characterization. Quantitative techniques were used to collect data from three purposively sampled districts and 250 randomly sampled smallholder farmers using a questionnaire. The fractional regression model (FRM) was used to regress the explanatory variables. The paper revealed that the bulk of the households who participated were male-headed, married households and unemployed. Having a bulk of participants as male-headed households has a possible negative effect on commercialization. About 54.8% of households of the sampled population participated in the selling of African indigenous vegetables. Commercialization was significantly affected by the age of the household head, the quantity of AIVs sold, estimated income, employment status and distance to the main market which in this case is Mbare Musika. Mutoko has many households participating in the African indigenous vegetables commercialization. However, their index is low compared to Goromonzi which had few farmers but with a higher commercialization index, reflecting the volume per farmer that reaches the market. Commercialization of AIVs was found to be viable at 60 kg and above of quantities sold to the market. Household income had an inverse relationship with the commercialization index. Capacitating the younger generation in line with benefits of AIVs can enhance their participation in production and marketing and propel commercialization.